Control the Imagination
[
Testimonies for the Church 2:522-525
, (1870).]
In the creation of man, the Lord designed that he should be active
and useful. Yet many live in this world as useless machines, as though
they hardly existed. They brighten the path of none, they are a blessing
to none. They live only to burden others. So far as their influence
on the side of right is concerned, they are mere ciphers; but they tell
with weight upon the wrong side. Search the lives of such closely,
and scarcely an act of disinterested benevolence can be found. When
they die, their memory dies with them. Their names soon perish; for
they cannot live, even in the affections of their friends, by means of
true goodness and virtuous acts. With such persons, life has been a
mistake. They have not been faithful stewards. They have forgotten
that their Creator has claims upon them, and that He designs them to
be active in doing good and in blessing others with their influence.
Selfish interests attract the mind and lead to forgetfulness of God and
of the purpose of their Creator.
All who profess to be followers of Jesus should feel that a duty
rests upon them to preserve their bodies in the best condition of health,
that their minds may be clear to comprehend heavenly things. The
mind needs to be controlled; for it has a most powerful influence upon
the health. The imagination often misleads, and when indulged, brings
severe forms of disease upon the afflicted. Many die of diseases which
are mostly imaginary....
Some are so afraid of air that they will muffle up their heads and
bodies until they look like mummies. They sit in the house, generally
inactive, fearing they shall weary themselves and get sick if they
[96]
exercise either indoors or out in the open air. They could take habitual
exercise in the open air every pleasant day, if they only thought so.
Continued inactivity is one of the greatest causes of debility of body
and feebleness of mind. Many are sick who ought to be in very good
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